Introduction
by hawktakesflight
Summary: It is exceedingly hard to open a door which insists on being closed. Lucario, weary from the day's events, wants nothing more than a closed door, and closure to painful events in his past life. Seventh, and last chapter is now up. Thanks to all who R&R.
1. Last

**Hello all.**

**Yes, I return after a break from Lucario fics, and I must say that the lack of ideas is a horrible thing – and I am glad to say, after well wishes from Shadow Blues, Souldin, lupyne and Froggiecool, I have gotten some ideas for a new fic.**

_**Introduction**_** is a prequel to all my other Lucario fics (yes, they are all linked), taking place even before **_**Claustrophobia**_**. It will be somewhat dark, I presume. And, as with other fics, titles are there for a reason.**

**All in all, I thank you all once again for your readership, kind reviews, criticism and support, and I hope you will have as much, if not much more fun reading this than I did writing it. Please enjoy, and reviews and feedback or criticism are always welcome!**

**hawk**

---

Introduction

Light glinted off the tiled roof. All along the Smash Mansion, a slight breeze blew gently through the empty corridors. If one followed the breeze, one would find the corridors leading to the Great Hall of the Smash Mansion, a magnificent theatre with a tall roof, with strong pillars reaching to its ceiling and intricate arches embracing its entire length. The floor was beautifully tiled and the walls were resplendent in colour and beauty. Two giant disembodied gloves, one right-hand and one left-hand glove, floated a few inches off the floor. The left-hand glove twitched incessantly, whereas the right-handed counterpart was significantly calmer, flexing strong white-gloved fingers. And at the end of Hall, there was a large gilded double-door entrance.

And now, at the double doors of the Great Hall came a soft knock. This was followed by a hesitant beep, then a couple more firm rat-tat-tats. Master Hand swivelled in his place, such that his fingers faced the doors. _Enter._ Crazy Hand snapped his fingers, and the double doors swung open inwards, revealing the immaculate Garden Grounds of the Smash Mansion behind. Along with the Garden, the doors also revealed another interesting character standing on the steps leading into the Hall, and this character slowly made his way into the Hall proper.

Mr. Game and Watch hesitantly walked into the Great Hall, blinking (not visibly, however) and beeping, surprised. Master Hand greeted him courteously. _Mr. Game and Watch._ The Monochrome Man saw Master Hand, and recognizing the glove, rang a bell in response. _Please have a seat. The rest of the Smashers will be arriving shortly._ The Monochrome Man followed the Hand's fingers, and realised that there were sets of chairs and long tables arranged in a style of a banquet, and so lowered himself onto a bench in his frame-by-frame animation.

He had barely sat down when there was another knock on the double doors. They swung open again, revealing an odd crew. Mario stepped across the threshold, doffing his red cap, and smiling. Luigi followed his brother, nervously clutching and twisting his green cap in his hands, then smiled nervously at Mr. Game and Watch. Following them was Princess Peach in a pink gown and Bowser, complete with his spiked shell and a small contingent of Goombas. _Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach and Bowser._ Master Hand greeted them, then signalled them to take a seat.

Immediately after, the two cheerful Ice Climbers appeared, decked out in their parkas and cleats, waving their wooden mallets happily. After them, other colourful characters entered through the doors, joining the increasingly motley crew of plumbers, royalty, foxes, children, Pokémon and others. The Smashers gathered together, eating and chatting happily about their upcoming scheduled fights and their time together in the Mansion.

After a while, dark clouds started to gather over the skies of the Smash Mansion. Just as Master Hand welcomed Captain Olimar and his Pikmin into the Hall, there was an audible crack of thunder, causing the Pikmin to scurry, scared, into the Hall behind Olimar. A second later, the clouds poured rain onto the Mansion and the Garden Grounds, and while Olimar led his Pikmin to the nearest long table, the double doors slowly swung shut by themselves. The Smashers thought nothing of it, save that they were grateful that they were in, out of the rain, and welcomed Captain Olimar to the food.

A few minutes later, however, there came a rap on the door. Master Hand hesitated, then flicked his fingers in the direction of the door. _Enter_. The door swung open, allowing a blast of cold wind to whirl into the Hall, some rain splattering against the tiled floor near the door. Framed in the doorway was a vaguely humanoid silhouette, although the shadow of a tail was seen. Stepping into the Hall, the newcomer became readily visible – a blue jackal-shaped creature with black-furred paws and a long blue tail, with a blue- and black-furred muzzle. From yellow torso fur protruded a silvery spike, while similar spikes were present on the forepaws.

But by far the thing that struck the other Smashers the most were his eyes. In spite of the newcomer being absolutely drenched, with water soaking into fur and dripping off the newcomer's tail and snout and the long ears, the scarlet eyes still stared deep and burned with an unnamed fire.

_A thousand apologies. I have brought some of the wind and rain into your abode,_ the newcomer bowed. His voice was deep and rather sonorous, but was rather queer... it wasn't a physical voice, but some of the veterans recognized it as a form of telepathy. A murmur of "No, it's okay..." "That's alright..." "Poyo!" and "Who is this guy anyway?" rippled among the seated crowd. Master Hand snapped his fingers again, shutting the door and causing the water to disappear, instantly drying the newcomer's fur, then introduced the last Smasher to the rest of the crew.

_Lucario_. Lucario bowed stiffly.

After the Hands indicated the tables to the Aura Pokémon, Lucario sat down, his tail drooping across the bench. Lucario quietly sat down next to the spy Snake, but hardly touched a thing during the entire course of the banquet/party. Snake noticed this, and initially attributed it to the assumed inability to pick up forks and spoons, until he realised that Lucario's eyes betrayed some uneasiness and a sense of forlornness. Lucario, on the other hand, quickly realised Snake was staring at him, but apart from the occasional glance at the mercenary, Lucario chose not to interact with him.

---

The party ended on a positive note for most of the Smashers, especially for Kirby, with the notable exception of Meta Knight whose precious sword was stolen by Kirby to roast marshmallows with. Lucario stood behind the group as Master Hand announced the room allocations in the Mansion, while Crazy Hand appeared to jab his fingers in the general direction of the rooms. However, after a few false starts, the Smashers realised that the twitching left glove wasn't really pointing at anything in particular after all, and disregarded his directions in finding their rooms.

_...and Lucario, you're in the room next to Snake. Now, with that settled, you all are dismissed back to your rooms, and we will see you tomorrow for your Brawls._ With that, Master Hand snapped his fingers before he and Crazy Hand moved to depart ahead of the Smashers, their odd forms already disappearing down the corridor. Lucario and Snake stared at each other blankly, before walking down the corridor together to find their rooms.

---

Halfway down the corridor, Lucario heard Master Hand calling for him, and the blue-furred Pokémon obediently followed the glove to the empty end of the corridor. Once there, Master Hand immediately faced the Smasher, his fingers flexing and unflexing, and got straight to the point. _You are not well,_ Master Hand stated. It wasn't a question, it was a matter-of-fact statement. Lucario paused, then bowed his head in assent.

_And you are dead._ Lucario started slightly, but didn't lift his head. Suddenly questions poured into his mind, as if they had been suppressed for some time and now broke like many waters from a breached dam. Lucario thought, then decided to chance it, lifting his head to meet Master Hand squarely with his eyes.

_Why am I here? Where is Aaron-sama?_ The Hand didn't make any obvious gestures, but Lucario read from his odd Aura that the Hand was vaguely amused. Lucario had a sudden urge to bite the Hand, but resisted it, hoping that this odd entity would shed more light on the mystery.

_I knew you would say that..._ Master Hand's voice seemed to suggest a smile. Lucario did not return it. _...and as such, I have brought you something to alleviate your discomfort._ Master Hand snapped his fingers, then something started to materialised between his thumb and index fingers. There was a short burst of blue light, before the light fell away from the Hand in motes, revealing a length of wood, rimmed with a bit of metal and a glimmering stone...

Lucario's immediately raised his hackles, his fur bristling, and his telepathic voice lowered to a soft tone. He very much wanted to interrogate and yell at the Hand, but his discipline and tactical sense taught him otherwise. _How did you get that?_ he growled softly, his voice straddling the area between a respectful tone and a dangerous hiss.

_Easier than how I got you. _Master Hand presented the staff to Lucario, who stared at it, unmoving. _Take it._ _And if you so desire, I will return it for you whenever you decide you do not need it any more._ Lucario hesitated, then reached out to touch the staff, as though scared that it might burn him. When it didn't, Lucario gingerly held the length of the staff, as long as Lucario himself was tall. A single wooden beam, tipped with metal on both ends, with one end containing a shimmering blue crystal encased in a metal skeleton of a sphere, with four pieces of metal resembling Lucario's Aura Filters which hung from the back of his head.

_I will return it by the next Festival,_ Lucario mused inwardly, though he didn't realise that tears were already starting to form out of the corner of his eyes. Quickly gathering himself together, he held Sir Aaron's staff in both hands, then bowed deeply to Master Hand.

_Thank you._

---

The light filtered through the single window in Lucario's small room. Lucario stood, holding the staff respectfully in his paws, then lowering it and resting it slowly to the ground. Lucario himself sat cross-legged in the corner of the room, allowing his tail to curl on the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, Lucario watched the staff's crystal exhibit a complicated light show, courtesy of the light which shone into and through it.

Slowly he brought his forepaws to his temples, screwing his eyes shut, the tears forming once again in his eyes. The staff was the only physical thing which reminded him of his past life, in stark contrast to this odd new lease of life he had somehow gained in the foreign Smash Mansion. Although Lucario seriously wondered how Master Hand had obtained it, and still fumed inwardly at its theft, Lucario couldn't help but feel a little grateful that there was a little fragment of his past in his present.

_Where am I? _Lucario whispered silently to himself. His gaze then fell upon the staff, lying resplendent on the otherwise dull floor. The last time he saw it was when... _I thought I had found you at last... but now..._

_Where are you?_


	2. Unfamiliar

**Hello all.**

**Thanks must go out to lupyne, Souldin, Shadow Blues, NinjaSheik and Froggiecool, as well as Sugar Baby Cresselia... I really appreciate all of your reviews! Also, thanks to all those who read too, thank you very much.**

**In the first chapter **_**Last**_**, the Smashers arrive in chronological order – Mr. Game and Watch was the first character to be released to the world, and Lucario is supposedly the last.**

**However, as with the rest of my Lucario fics, I believe the Lucario in Brawl is the same as the one in **_**Lucario and the Mystery of Mew**_** – which makes Lucario the, if not one of the, oldest characters in Brawl, being sealed away in Sir Aaron's staff for a thousand years. ****That's another story – Wiki the movie if you will, it is admittedly a cheesy movie but the great character of the Lucario is the main drawing power.**

**That being said, this chapter took too long to write. I am not quite pleased with how this turned out, but it provides a stage for the rest of the fic to take place. Suffice to say that writing the next chapter will be much fun, and I look forward to updating soon.**

**In any case, I hope you will enjoy it, and so, I thank you once again. Please read and review, comments and criticism are welcome.**

**hawk**

---

Introduction – Chapter Two

Dawn. Lucario sat up, uncurling himself from where he slept on the floor. As a result of his disciplined training, Lucario would inevitably wake up at the crack of dawn, and this habit apparently had carried on into his life in the Smash Mansion. A soft gold glow illuminated his room, cast by whatever light source provided the light outside his window. He got up, stretched once, then padded to his door.

Grasping the handle in his forepaws, he pulled it, the door opening inwards. Making his way down the empty corridors, his sensitive ears picked up light snoring sounds from behind the doors. Ignoring them, he continued walking.

At the end of the corridor, he came across a board which flickered. That caught his attention. As he looked, the board's surface flickered and changed, then displayed a screen where two pictures were set side by side. To his surprise, Lucario's own picture was shown, a shot of part of his snout and a single of his red eyes. Wondering how they managed to get such a picture, he looked at the other image.

The image became less and less strange as Lucario recognized the short man as one of the occupants of the Mansion. Short, didn't talk much, and had a contingent of odd plant-soldiers following him. Lucario remembered seeing him around, and racked his mind for his name... _Olimar, or something similar, _thought Lucario. He reached out a forepaw to touch the screen, but contact caused the screen to flicker and change, causing the board to reflect a totally different surface.

_A magic board,_ Lucario mused, staring intently at the board which now had small squares of colour, pictures of the other occupants of the Mansion, floating dreamily about in a circle.

Moving along, Lucario found a couple more occupied rooms, a long stretch of corridor, and the Garden Grounds, none of which he found particularly suitable to train himself in, and yet be left alone. Lucario sighed audibly, then turned to go back to his room, when suddenly an idea struck.

---

_He could see almost the whole of the land stretched beneath him. Lucario looked on, interested, as a flock of Pidgeys flew overhead, heading for the plains in the distance. Below them he could see the edge of the Castle grounds, the outskirts of the town, the rolling plains and the jagged mountains beyond. Above them all, the sun was high in the sky, bathing the landscape in a warm golden glow, small shadows of the Pidgeys flickering on the ground far below them. Lucario breathed in deeply, feeling the cold fresh air fill his lungs, his fur rippling softly in the wind._

_Sir Aaron's footfalls sounded softly across the tiles as he moved next to Lucario. The blue-furred Pokémon was staring forwards, amazed, and Sir Aaron couldn't help but chuckle lightly. Standing next to Lucario, he too gazed across the open sky and land, allowing the gentle breeze to comb through his cloak._

"_Nice, isn't it?" Lucario nodded silently. He never was one to stop and smell the roses, but this view simply stunned the Aura Pokémon into silence. The breathtaking scenery continued to unfold before them as they stood on the Castle roof._

---

At the appointed time, Lucario padded back into the Mansion and to the transporter room. The room, Lucario was told, was where they would be transported to the respective stages for their Brawls. Not being a Psychic or Ghost Pokémon, Lucario knew about, but was relatively unfamiliar with the idea of teleportation. Still, not wanting to disobey orders, even if they were given by an authoritative giant floating glove, he decided to make his way there anyway.

As he made his way there, he noticed that next to the teleportation room was a room with its wooden door labelled "Smash Lounge". The door was ajar, so Lucario happened to see large sofas, a fireplace, and several Smashers lolling about within. He made a mental reminder to himself to tread with padded hindpaws around the area, so as not to make any noise.

In any case, the teleportation room door was right opposite to it, and this door Lucario pushed open slowly with a forepaw. The door turning easily, Lucario entered, and immediately saw Captain Olimar, a diminutive being dressed in a clunky suit, with his head encased in what appeared to the ancient Pokémon as a almost-transparent sphere. He looked up into Lucario's face, nodded, then beckoned Lucario towards the teleportation machine.

Lucario nodded once, then turned to face the teleporter.

---

In a moment's time, Lucario and Olimar found themselves on a large, flat platform. Swirling blue patterns on the floor mesmerized both parties, although that was quickly broken when Master Hand's voice boomed from all around them, counting down the seconds to the start of the Brawl. In the distant background, Lucario heard scattered cheers for the Brawl, but before he could process this further, Master Hand had started the brawl with an empathic _Go!_.

Olimar bent low to the ground, pulling out colourful streamers from it, which Lucario recognised as his plant-soldiers, Pikmin. Strange as that may have sounded, he was sure that he could not replicate that trick, and so Lucario opted to dash forward, landing the first strike with an Aura-powered paw against Olimar's head. However, to his surprise, his forepaw bounced off Olimar's helmet, repelled by the near-invisible glass, causing both parties to stagger backwards.

The short Captain recovered, throwing a Pikmin towards Lucario. The red thing immediately latched itself on Lucario's torso-fur, and Lucario suddenly felt a wave of heat emanating from it. Looking down, he realised that the Pikmin was attempting to set his fur on fire, and so he frantically swiped it off before it could do further damage. Although his fur was slightly singed, Lucario was no worse off, and launched a counterattack by sliding across the stage towards Olimar, knocking him and his Pikmin off their feet.

The Brawl continued in this fashion for the next minute or so, both parties getting used to the physics of the Brawl as well as to each other's strategies. As both were getting in hits, their stamina began to wear out, although Lucario observed this in Olimar and started to gain the offensive advantage. To give him credit, Olimar was no pushover, roping Pikmin together to burn, shock or otherwise bludgeon the Pokémon with quick attacks, while he and his army suffered from Lucario's onslaught of Aura-based attacks.

At the climax of the Brawl, Olimar leapt into the air, intending to throw a Pikmin onto Lucario's head. At the same time, Lucario reflexively spun, raising a forepaw to block Olimar's attack. The result was a muffled crack, a gasp from the audience, and a long squeal.

Olimar couldn't stop his momentum, causing both himself and the Pokémon to slam onto the floor. Lucario was flung to his knees, his paw-spike embedded deep in Olimar's helmet. The spike had cleanly pierced through his helmet, although it remained stuck in it, and the sharp point on the spike ended mere inches away from his nose. Lucario lay sprawled on the ground, next to Olimar, and both of them stared blankly at each other, then at the spike and the helmet.

Olimar squealed.

---

Lucario sat in his room, kneading his temples with his forepaws. The Brawl had to be immediately cancelled, Lucario bending low in order to keep his paw-spike in place in Olimar's helmet – ironically enough, the spike was the only thing preventing the outside atmosphere from seeping in, Olimar claiming that it was poisonous to his species. Regardless, Master Hand himself had transported them out of the stadium, with Olimar receiving immediate helmet changes and a brief period of medical attention. Lucario was also dismissed from the Brawl, and although he had minor wounds and burns, he opted to simply return to his room then to stay in the infirmary.

He stopped kneading, resting his muzzle in between his two forepaws. He didn't care much for how he appeared to the other Smashers, but he felt guilty about breaking Olimar's helmet. And what's more, he, Lucario, was the newest addition to the Brawl roster – and already the others' impression of him probably wouldn't be very good.

_Agh!_ Lucario stood up, his tail whirling about him as he got to his hindpaws. Storming over to the single window in his small room, he gazed out at the night-time scenery outside. It could have been the Kanto landscape he saw from the roof of Cameron Palace, but something was just different – his heart twisted itself into impossible shapes, and he slumped to the floor, forepaws to his head as if he had a terrible, terrible headache. Not only was he in a foreign environment, he had absolutely no one to even look to.

Memories of a crystal prison surfaced, magnified a thousandfold as Lucario realised that he was effectively trapped once again, alone.

Lucario's scarlet eyes snapped open, taking in the only familiar object he now knew. Calming down, he reached a trembling paw for the staff, drawing it close to himself, the shimmering blue crystal sparkling against his red eyes in the night. He choked something inaudible, a weak smile relucantly pulling on the side of his lips. The only fragment of his past life was so dear, yet so painful, and Lucario wearily wondered if Master Hand had did this just to torture him a little further. _Aaron-sama..._ The blue crystal glittered a little, flooding Lucario's mind with many precious or unpleasant memories.

Drawing in a deep breath, he curled himself into a sleeping position on the floor and forced himself to fall into an uneasy sleep.


	3. Crashed

**Hello all.**

**First off, many thanks to Froggiecool, Souldin, NinjaSheik and lupyne! Thank you all so much for your reviews and questions...**

**Admittedly, this chapter took too long to write. However, it is up now, so I hope you can still read it and enjoy it. Of course, reviews, questions and criticism are more than welcome!**

**hawk**

---

Introduction – Chapter Three

A weak white light spilled across the dead grass, illuminating the dry brown patches in a small pool of milky whiteness. To the front was a large, dilapidated mansion, supported precariously on four ornate but weak pillars, the outside paint flaking off and disappearing. Outside the door, a small candle was hung in a metallic case chained to the wall, the rusty chain creaking and groaning with every breath of wind. The door itself was battered and old, and one of its hinges had probably come off. The weak candlelight only revealed so much detail, and the darkness surrounding was so dark that the door and the towering shadow of the house could be seen.

His hindpaws brushing against dead grass as he moved forwards, Lucario glanced about him. A short, dimly illuminated mudpath led to the ominous building, and now his hindpaws were slowly jerking themselves in that direction. As much as he wanted to get out of wherever he was, a part of him wanted to carry on walking and take a look behind the battered door, just for curiosity's sake.

The rotting steps creaked loudly when Lucario lightly stepped on them, as he made his way up the two or three rickety steps to approach the door. For a split second Lucario suspected that the stairs would split apart, but as the groaning ceased he continued to put one hindpaw in front of the other, slowly but surely making his way forward.

He felt no fear, only a vague sense of emptiness and curiosity as he pushed open the dilapidated door with a forepaw. Well, he tried to – once the tips of his paw hit the wood, the door gave up the fight with gravity and the hinge, toppling over backwards into the house. Producing a gigantic dust cloud, it landed with a terrific _BAM_ which echoed eerily in the empty hall behind it.

_What?_ Lucario thought blankly. Stepping on the door's splintered remains, he walked silently into the hall. A thick layer of dust stained – no, covered the floor, and he left pawprints against the dust as he slowly made his way deeper into the Hall. Once-immaculate pillars were cracked and dusty, and some even lay shattered into fragments, toppled over backwards, their proud backs irreparably broken. The tiled floor didn't shine, that was for sure, and through the dust Lucario saw deep grooves and scratches, positive deep gashes which cut the once-pristine flooring.

Halting, Lucario stopped and raised his head, looking around him, his hindpaws turning on the spot as he rotated, trying to take in the full details of the large room he was in. Part of the ceiling had been destroyed, a gaping hole and a large pile of rubble underneath. Something compelled Lucario to look a little closer, and on inspection – _Aaron-sama – a human hand?_ Lucario drew a short breath, stepped backwards, misjudged, and stumbled, landing painfully on his tail. When he looked again, the pile of rubble shook, dislodging rubble of various sizes and altering the shape of the pile. If there was such a ghostly appearance, it was hidden now, buried.

As Lucario stood up, he noticed a long double trail of scratches on the floor, starting from quite a long way off and ending in deep gashes right at his hindpaws, creating an illusion of a railroad track, and he was at its end. Ignoring it, he stood up, dusting off a thick clump of dust which had turned his blue fur a smoggy gray colour. Running a paw through his tail and removing a particularly irritating piece of rubble, Lucario stopped short and did a double take, holding up the piece of rubble up to his eyes. It looked vaguely familiar.

Suddenly Lucario dropped the shard, whipping around, his tail whirling around him as his red eyes widened. _Beyond all recognition_... Lucario whispered to himself as he came to a stop, staring straight up at the ceiling, which once had held a chandelier but now was a gaping hole. He finally realised where he was, crouching and holding his forepaws in front of his face in a defensive stance, even though there was no other sign of life.

A chill ran down his spine as the destroyed Great Hall of the Smash Mansion loomed all around him.

Silently Lucario padded to the other exit of the Hall, his Aura Filters slowly rising from the back of his head. His vision washed in blue, Lucario glanced around, his Aura vision not picking up even a trace of Aura. Allowing his vision to travel, he scanned the empty corridors and rooms, but found no more signs of life than in a Kanto cemetery. No point calling out, he reasoned.

The innards of the Mansion remained relatively the same – except that the corridors' plaster had fallen off in some places, and small cracks and scratches adorned their edges. A thin film of dust had accumulated, Lucario's pawprints leaving fresh imprints as he made his way down the corridors to his final destination. Past that corridor, up the stairs, and he came to the last flight of steps, which thankfully had escaped the tide of destruction that had buffeted the rest of the Mansion. Still, they creaked as Lucario rested his weight on his hindpaws, his tail switching from side to side, as Lucario wondered what he would see.

Completing the last few steps, he stepped off the slightly-rickety staircase onto the Smash Mansion Roof, and gazed at the Smash Mansion grounds. The once-proud Garden was stripped to its dead topsoil, the vibrant green grass where the kid Smashers probably played was burnt, razed, and destroyed, leaving behind cold lumps of earth. Even the dead soil was not left undisturbed, a large crater marking the ground near the Hall's double doors. Trees were blackened and burnt, mere stark skeletons of what they once were. The only place left relatively untouched was a small grove, where a small moat of green grass surrounded a tree and some greying stones, but even there the brown was slowly but surely creeping in and invading.

A roof tile clattered. Lucario spun around, paws suddenly burning with blue Aura.

He struck out multiple times, swiping his paw in a deadly determined strike, creating a deadly three-sided weapon. Firstly, his black-furred paw rushed through the air, ready to pummel. Secondly, his Aura powered his movement, capable of burning and shocking. And lastly, the sharp paw-spike at the end tore a scratch in the air, sparking dangerously at whichever poor foe that happened to be on the receiving end.

No one was there.

Lucario halted, surprised. His paws did not unclench, nor did the visible Aura about it diminish, but his red eyes widened as he saw his enemy was a slowly dissipating cloud of dust. Slowly stepping backwards, another crack sounded, Lucario whipping around with an Aura-powered paw-spike, crouching into a defensive stance, but froze again when no one was there.

Tiles behind him rang out loudly, the Aura Pokémon instinctively hitting out at non-existent enemies. The wind rushed through the battlefield in violent gusts, whistling in and through the shivering tiles and Lucario's fur. The tiles visibly vibrated, as if someone was stepping on them, but everytime Lucario aimed a pummel or kick, his paw would feel nothing but air. Aura Spheres destroyed a tile or two, but the pieces rattled still, dead but not quite quiet.

And the tiles kept on clattering, from all different directions. Gradually the wave of shaking tiles closed in upon Lucario, until he was virtually surrounded by a sea of noisy, clacking tiles and their incessant clamouring voices. Lucario yelled, a primal instinct, discipline temporarily forgotten. He slammed his paw onto a nearby tile, releasing an immense amount of Aura through it in a close-ranged offensive tactic. The effect was immediate – a concentric circle of glowing blue blasted from the tile, obliterating it and irreparably shattering all the other tiles on the roof, while Lucario keeled over backwards with a thud, his chest heaving and crying out for air.

For a while, the welcome silence was only punctuated by Lucario's heavy breathing. In a few seconds, Lucario sat upright and shook his head, looking around at the destroyed scene about him. The entire roof had practically been levelled, holes blasted in places, and the entire rooftop and Pokémon covered with a coat of fine tile-powder. The unfortunate tile which had borne the brunt of Lucario's furious attack had been pulverized out of existence, leaving behind a gaping hole three tiles by three tiles large.

Cradling his head in his forepaws, the confused Pokémon stayed still, his unblinking eyes boring straight into the roof. _This is just a bad dream,_ he whispered out loud, although his voice trembled slightly and he was not very convinced. _This is just a bad dream, just a bad dream... _His eyes screwed shut, and he yelled at no one in particular, a long and desperate howl to the hidden moon. _This is a terrible dream!_

Suddenly exhausted, Lucario fell backwards onto the roof. _I want to wake up,_ he spoke more calmly. _Wake up, and to see Aaron-sama and Rin-ojo-sama, and to train in the Palace grounds. Wake up, and –_ He stopped.

Realisation finally hit him that his life was long over. He was no longer in Cameran Palace, where Queen Rin and Sir Aaron had once resided. He was no longer in Kanto. He was no longer even inside his own accepted universe. A stranger in a strange land. The silent, strange-looking, spike-wearing, social outcast. Lucario gripped his head tighter, tufts of fur slowly coming apart in his paws.

_Pst_. Lucario looked up, surprised. Who was it who had made that footstep? He didn't hear anyone come up the steps to the roof, nor did he see anyone. _Pst_. Another footfall. Lucario whirled to his hindpaws, his tail flicking powder up into a makeshift sandstorm behind which he tensed, ready to –

A figure stood between Lucario and the edge of the roof. Both feet firmly planted on the remains of the roof, the silouhette was taller than average, rising a couple of heads over the short Lucario. The silouhette stepped forward into a place where Lucario could see him. It was a man, dressed in a long blue cloak which was not dirtied by the roof, a large hat which did not hide his handsome features, and familiar eyes.

"Good morning, Rukario," the figure smiled, tilting his head slightly.

Every single muscle in Lucario's body froze, his usually-calm heart skipped a beat. His jaw hinged open slightly, disbelief and wonderment etched clearly upon his features. Sir Aaron walked towards him, then beckoned for him to follow.

_Wait._ Lucario whispered out loud.

_This is a good dream..._

---

Lucario sat bolt upright, not daring to breathe. Around him was the whitewashed walls of his tiny room in the Smash Mansion, and he was seated on its floor. No powdered rooftile-dust, no desolation. His Aura Filters picked up the Aura of Smashers, asleep in their rooms. His forepaw released its grip on his head and fell to the ground, landing on the floor with a substantial thud and pain.

The Pokémon sat like that for a couple of seconds, and then allowed himself to fall helplessly backwards onto the floor, his head slamming against the ground. His thoughts started off, teetered, and crashed, leaving behind irreparable scars in their wake.

A single inarticulate howl echoed through the Smash Mansion, shivered, then fell silent.


	4. All

**Hello all.**

**Apologies for the long delay, and many thanks to Souldin, NinjaSheik, Shadow Blues, Dusk-N-Dawn and lupyne! Thank you very much for your kind words. Thanks must also go to all readers (even if you didn't leave reviews).**

**I realise that many of these things may seem slightly out of place in later chapters, so I will clarify it here – the Smart Shields' implementation are described in **_**Days of Our Lives**_**, and basically they are shields to ensure that the Smashers don't get limbs lopped off or so on by the many swords and weapons in Brawl. ****And this system was suspended once for **_**Claustrophobia**_**, because of the nature of the fight, I suppose.**

**Did anyone figure out where Lucario went during the second chapter, before his Brawl with Olimar? That place will be significant for the rest of the arc.**

**In any case, please do read and review, and I hope you'll enjoy it. Thank you.**

**hawk**

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Introduction – Chapter Four

The next morning, Snake cracked his knuckles, rose out of bed, and made his way stealthily down to the cafeteria. Confident that he was the first, he sauntered in, only to see a blue figure already seated, a tin can in front of him. Surprised, he walked over to Lucario, intending to sit down next to him. Lucario's eyes darted up, and followed the mercenary as he walked across the cafeteria.

"Morning." Snake yawned as he seated himself. _Good morning,_ Lucario nodded his head in return. There was an awkward silence.

After the numerous incidents of the first rounds of Brawls, where participants had to spend long amount of time in the infirmary, or develop a slight phobia of swords and their wielders, Master Hand had decided to implement Smart Shields, a system where the Smashers would not endure physical harm during Brawls. After the announcement, the Brawlers were more willing to return to the battling arenas.

Snake had chosen this fine day to challenge Lucario to a one-on-one friendly Brawl. Lucario had earlier resigned himself to his new life in the Smash Mansion, and had simply nodded curtly at Snake's announcement. Apparently, Snake couldn't wait to test out his new attacks, and deemed the magic board ("...electronic board," corrected Snake) too slow for his purposes, and decided to confide in Lucario about his excitement for Brawl.

Lucario nodded politely, but said nothing.

---

Snake and Lucario prepared for the Brawl, making their respective entrances onto the stage. Much like Lucario's first Brawl, the stage had been set to Final Destination, but now instead of facing a diminutive space captain Lucario found himself staring straight at a master of stealth. Master Hand's voice announced from somewhere unseen the seconds counting down to the Brawl's beginning. Lucario tensed, blue fire encircling his paws as Snake faced him.

_Go!_ Lucario was started out of his reverie as Master Hand's voice boomed through the stadium, Snake immediately dashing forwards, his hands poised to strike. Lucario dropped down, his hindpaws whipping about him in a practiced motion as he tripped Snake and sent him flying. Snake recovered, however, and resumed attacking Lucario with gusto. Lucario instinctively raised his forepaws to block Snake's chops, counterattacking with his own Aura-based attacks, and even got in an Aura-powered hindpaw to Snake's gut for his efforts. Snake, realising that Lucario had the upper-hand in hand-to-hand combat, retreated, opting instead to toss a small round ball at the Pokémon.

It bounced with a clang as Lucario stepped backwards, avoiding the projectile, the Pokémon surprised at its metallic sound. Seeing it come to a stop, Lucario dismissed it as a missed attack, and rushed forwards, his forepaws flaming with Aura, ready to deliver a strike. Snake didn't even move, and Lucario suddenly noticed that his entire being was radiating confidence and a kind of pride, just like seeing an opponent Pokémon being drawn into a trap –

The grenade suddenly exploded in a burst of flame and fury as Lucario passed over it, violently launching the Pokémon skyward and nearly giving Lucario a mild heart attack, not even leaving him any time to cry out. Fortunately, due to the Smart Shields the Hands had forced the Smashers to wear, his fur wasn't even singed, although the blast reverberated loudly in his ears, causing him to screw his eyes shut. As he shook his head to clear it of the sound, he noticed Snake leaping up towards him, but in his disorientated state, the pummel he threw missed the spy entirely. Snake struck Lucario twice, sending the Pokémon crashing back to the floor of the stage.

He hit the stage back first, and groaned. Immediately he staggered to his feet, his forepaws held defiantly in front of him, and the Aura about his paws burned slightly brighter. _What was tha- _he thought to himself, before his vision caught sight of a smiling Snake and a metallic capsule being launched straight at him, through the barrel of some miniaturised cannon holstered on Snake's shoulder.

Normally, he would have swatted it aside, the metal tin can it was, but he knew now to treat Snake's attacks with caution. Leaping backwards, he fired a small Aura Sphere at the projectile, the blue orb colliding with the capsule and exploding. The rocket exploded too, with a large cloud of flame and cloud which Lucario would not have thought possible from such a small tin can.

Leaping through the cloud, he emerged from the wispy smoke with an Aura-powered paw ready to sink into Snake's body, but the sly spy had already anticipated that, and had prepared another missile; such that Lucario found himself staring straight into the barrel of his launcher.

With an almighty _blam_ the Aura Pokémon was sent flying, spinning in mid air until he landed heavily on the floor, sprawled dangerously near the edge of the stage. His right paw throbbed heavily with pain, and it hurt for him to move it, much less attack with it. Gritting his teeth and deciding to continue anyway, he stumbled to his feet once again, only to realise that another of the metallic messengers of explosions were sent his way.

_Aaron-sama, why?_ Lucario sighed quietly to himself.

Closing his eyes, the Aura Filters on the back of his head rose, suspended behind his head. Looking now as if a blindfold had been placed on his eyes, Lucario's vision in fact was now washed in a blue haze, the missile tracing a streak towards him and Snake a visible silhouette of Aura behind it. Roaring, he leaped into the air, evading the missile and rushing towards Snake in mid-air. Startled, he loosened his grip on the controller, allowing the missile to drop and detonate harmlessly against the ground.

Opening his eyes, now a burning red, Lucario struck Snake a blow on his head, Aura burning the spy as his vision swam. Landing in front of him, Lucario launched into a series of quick punches and kicks, racking up damage and leaving Snake little room to counterattack. The pain in his paw gave him some extra motivation, leaving Snake breathless and winded from his quick attacks. He ended by gripping Snake by his collar, twirling him around before throwing him some distance away, where he landed face-first in the ground.

Snake took some time to get up, but when he did, he immediately tossed one of his grenades at Lucario. It bounced once, a metallic _ching _sounded when it hit the floor. Lucario kicked at it with an Aura-powered paw, sending it flying back to the spy covered in a cloud of blue flame. Before it exploded, Snake quickly dodged out of its path, leaving the detonation to connect with a harmless patch of air.

Unfortunately for Snake, his dodge led him right into a steely paw-grip, Lucario delivering pummel after pummel into his abdomen. Snake retaliated by suddenly delivering a punch to Lucario, narrowly missing the sharp chest-spike, sending Lucario reeling backwards. Closing his eyes to regain his bearings, his Aura vision picked out not only Snake but also a hidden canister in the ground, probably some magical metal canister of Snake. Knowing better than to disturb it, Lucario made a mental note to stay away from it. At the same time, he noticed Snake himself approaching him, so he struck out with his front paw, sending Snake somersaulting backwards.

They continued battling like this for a while longer, Lucario gaining the advantage sometimes and pushing Snake to his limits. However, the mercenary proved to be as resistant to pain as the Pokémon himself, striking back with his own counteroffensive. As trained as Lucario was, even he admired the spy's physical prowess – even if that did pose a problem to him in the Brawl.

Snake leaped upwards into the air, and Lucario did likewise, intending to strike him with a burst of Aura. However, Snake got in the first hit, suddenly gripping Lucario by his neck with one hand, and his good paw in the other, and sending both of them plummeting towards the ground with it. Lucario realised that they were going to impact where the metallic packet was buried, and struggled in Snake's vicelike grip, letting off bursts of Aura into Snake's hands. Snake didn't let go, until moments before impact where he launched himself off Lucario's chest, propelling himself upwards and sending Lucario slamming back-first onto the C4.

Lucario bit his lip as his back arched from the explosion, flinging the Aura Pokémon unceremoniously from the stage boundaries, as Master Hand announced _Game!_.

---

The spy leaned back on his bunk, pleased. Around him his gadgets whirred, and the light was turned slightly down so their green electronic displays shone a little brighter by contrast. Their electronic whir provided him with some level of comfort, reminding him of Otacon, Mei Ling and the Colonel. Speaking of whom, they were pretty pleased to see Snake win his first ever Brawl. He allowed his mind to wander for a bit, before he realised that he hadn't seen Lucario since the Brawl ended. Was he in his room?

Snake pondered for a moment, then got to his feet and exited his room, locking his door silently behind him. Across the corridor, there was a plain wooden door set into the wall. Snake approached it, rapping his knuckles smartly on the wooden board. There was a muffled thump, and then some movement of the handle. The door didn't open. Snake scratched the back of his head.

There was a slight metallic jingling, and then the door handle then turned fully, the door swinging inwards to reveal Lucario, the blue-furred Pokémon staring straight up at the taller Snake. _May I help you?_ he enquired politely, one paw on the door handle.

"Oh, uh..." Snake mumbled. He hadn't exactly expected Lucario to be in, or even answer to his knock. "I – thanks for the Brawl today, that was good," he eventually managed to make out. When Lucario's features didn't change, he felt a vague sense of worry rising up in him. _That's odd_, thought Snake. _I haven't felt worried since – ah – Think of something to say, Snake!_

It was Lucario, however, who made the next move. _Thank you,_ he responded simply, his telepathic voice in Snake's head. _You won, though. Congratulations._ He nodded his head slightly at Snake, who was relieved at his reaction, although none of it showed on his features.

Feeling slightly bolder, he looked over the top of Lucario's eartips to the rest of his room. To his surprise, it was completely whitewashed, with the occasional bit of old paint flaking from the walls, with a once-polished wooden floor. The room was devoid of any furniture, not even a bed, and the light streamed in through one window which overlooked part of the Garden grounds, where a tree cast a shadow on a small grove. The only other thing in the room was a length of wood, which Snake recognized as a 'staff' from Mei Ling's occasional lectures on Asian culture.

"Nice staff," he ventured. Lucario's eyes shifted in surprise, and he turned his head to look at what Snake was seeing. _Thank you, but it is not my staff, _he started, _it –_ but as he turned to look, Snake had elbowed past Lucario into his room, stepping towards the staff, ignoring Lucario's sudden protest.

The reason was that the spy had suddenly espied the crystal on the staff's end, which drew him like a moth to a flame. It was brilliantly cut, made of some bluish-tinted crystal unknown to Snake. Quickly picking up the staff, he looked at it, seeing his face reflected a hundred times in its many facets. Whistling in amazement, his reverie was suddenly broken by a heavy paw on his shoulder, and a blue-furred face was added into the mosaic he saw in the crystal.

_Give it back._ Lucario had reached up so as to plant his forepaw firmly on Snake's left shoulder, the pressure from the forepaw increasing. However, there was no escaping Snake's senses – the pressure shivered slightly, reflective of the trembling of the paw that pressed down on his sneaking suit. He turned, his back now facing Lucario's door, seeing Lucario stare at him with fiery red eyes. "Hey, but it's a nice staff," Snake protested weakly, twirling the staff in a hand, the metal trinkets jangling loudly against their metal bracelet. Lucario tensed even further, his paw suddenly flaring with blue Aura, Snake's shoulder going numb.

Snake was no Aura Pokémon, but even he could detect the intense emotions flooding from Lucario, who had twisted Snake sideways with only a paw on his shoulder, so as to stare directly into Snake's eyes. "I was just wondering if I could show it to the others..." Lucario placed a paw under Snake's hand gripping the staff, intending for Snake to place it into his grasp, all the while maintaining his paw on the spy's shoulder and his eyes staring straight into Snake's.

_No._ Lucario's voice was soft but firm.

"Alright," Snake laughed nervously. "Don't get so worked up." Accordingly, Lucario seemed to obey his command, relaxing slightly, although his paw still remain firmly clamped on Snake's shoulder, blue Aura subsiding. His breathing seemed to shallow out and almost return to normal, but Snake was surprised to discern pleading in Lucario's eyes. _Give it back, please. _"Relax," Snake chided, "It's _only_ a staf–"

The next thing Snake felt was intense fire burning his hand, and then the painful splintering of wood behind his back, followed by two more increasingly painful collisions with walls, the first of which gave way relatively easily. Lucario had burned his hand with intense Aura, forcing him to drop the staff, and had simultaneously slammed Snake through two doors and into a wall with a single Aura-powered punch. The impact had thrown Snake through Lucario's door; splintered Snake's lock, allowing the door to swing open; and finally set him up with a collision with his own room wall, right above his bunk.

At the same time the staff had fallen from his hand, Lucario had caught it in his paw, the crystal Snake had been eyeing glinting in the reddening light from the window behind Lucario. The harsh ringing from the metal plates soon quietened down, leaving a slight silence behind, as on other floors the Smashers continued their daily activities.

Slumping back onto his bed, he stared in surprise, mouth open wide in shock as Lucario gripped the staff firmly, eased past the splintered remains of his door, then glared at Snake.

_It's not _just _a staff,_ he growled at Snake, his telepathic voice suddenly subdued. _It's all I have._

Then he turned, tail brushing the ground, and walked off down the hallway.


	5. Rest

**Hello all.**

**Many thanks for the kind words of Souldin, Shadow Blues, lupyne, Forggiecool and Dusk-N-Dawn! Thank you so much, your comments are really appreciated...**

**I will definitely be going on a hiatus soon – but it will only last at most a month. I will still be writing for now, but I fear I may need to take a short break pretty soon. More on that with later updates.**

**I apologize for the late update - apparently there's something wrong with the uploading sequence. The problem has not been solved; I have merely found a loophole. Oh well, so as long as it works, I suppose.**

**So meanwhile, please enjoy the next instalment of this fic. Constructive comments, reviews and feedback are all more than welcome. Thank you for reading!**

**hawk**

---

Introduction – Chapter Five

_"Hey look..." "It's a Pokémon? In the Palace grounds?"_

_For as long as he could remember, he'd never been truly accepted by many._

_Aaron-sama was his Master, Rin-ojo-sama was his Queen, and fortunately they both accepted him. He felt exceedingly grateful to them – but to him they were still his far superiors and Masters, and he had no peers of his own._

_Many others would sometimes say hello courteously, and on rare occasions feign politeness. Even from their faces their features looked plastic – they whisper and chatter amongst themselves right in front of him, as if he didn't know or couldn't understand them - and he didn't need to be an Aura Pokémon to know what they thought._

_Unfortunately for them, he understood, and could hear them much better than themselves. The Aura Filters at the back of his head weren't there for decoration purposes – he could read waves of dissatisfaction, irrational dislike and other emotions that left a bad aftertaste in his mind. Why? He'd try everything to please them, but nothing seemed to help the image of the "furry blue Pokémon" in their minds._

_The only people without the discriminatory attitude were the little children, but they were few and far between, and all of them radiated fear of his spikes, and never actually dared to get close. Even then, some of them literally used him, challenged their companions to get close to him as a dare, or pushing each other towards him with the childish game of hoping to spear their shrieking friend on any of his spikes._

_A point you push your friend into his paw-spike, ten if you hit his chest-spike._

---

_Hm._ Lucario allowed himself a bitter smile, the tip of his tail brushing lightly against the ground as he walked. The staff was held in his right paw, his black-furred digits curling about its smooth wooden surface. He never was really well-accepted, and frankly he didn't know the reasons why. Suffice to say that even in the confines of Cameron Palace, he still felt a little out-of-place without Aaron-sama's presence... as if he didn't belong.

And of course, this feeling was magnified even more so here.

Suddenly starting, Lucario found his vision blurred, the outside world for a second just a meaningless swirl of colour. Blinking, the salty tears were wiped off his eyes and gradually his vision cleared. A semi-familiar clank under his feet brought Lucario firmly to his senses, a roof tile shifting noisily underneath the sole of his hindpaw. Gingerly lifting his forepaw, he stepped backwards to the centre of the roof, surveying the roof about him.

Gripping the wooden length of the staff in both forepaws, he rested its base firmly on the rooftop. Suddenly the roof had become quite a foreign place; no longer entirely the island for himself that he had once saw it to be. Reaching out with the staff, he tapped a nearby tile, hearing it clack loudly in the encroaching night.

His confidence returning, he stepped out, walking slowly across the tiles. Like previous times, his soft padded paws made no sound against the roof, nor did the tiles loudly announce his arrival, but this time every single sound seemed magnified in the quiet night. Lucario just stared blankly ahead, eventually reaching the edge of the roof, where he stood at its very edge, swaying very slightly forwards and backwards.

Staff in one paw, Lucario looked up. The night sky calmed him down, and even miniscule sparks of light resembling stars made him feel a little better. Someone had claimed that some stages were hung in the sky about Smash Mansion, but Lucario didn't really think on it. To him, these little pinpricks of light reminded him of the brilliant stars in the dark Kanto sky.

_They said your story was immortalised, your picture drawn in the stars, _Lucario murmured aloud, his eyes scanning the sky.

---

_Those stars were a pointer to the east, Lucario knew. And that particular cluster was a sure arrow to the north. Coupled with his excellent tracking ability, Lucario was able to guide Sir Aaron on lengthy missions and visits to the surrounding area. Even when nothing seemed familiar, Lucario would look to the sky, trace out their path, and patiently wait for Sir Aaron to start._

_Oftentimes, Sir Aaron would talk about the pictures he saw in the stars, and their patterns. Lucario himself was never one to bother about pictures in the sky, but once Sir Aaron had pointed it out, the Aura Pokémon couldn't help but agree, nod – and even smile – at his imagination._

_With a couple of gestures and tracing, Sir Aaron described his view of the skies. Lucario listened attentively, yet impassively, at first; but gradually he began to view it in a different light. He became increasingly interested and sometimes even squinted his eyes in order to make out particularly obscure shapes._

_A group of stars became a giant tree, and Lucario even saw Pokémon resting under its leaves. A few points of light started to look like the legendary Myuu, the long tail curled in a carefree manner behind the small body. And even more amazingly, an apparently random gathering of stars became the Cameron Palace in the clouds._

_One day, on a particularly long voyage, Aaron sketched out a new image in the sky. "See that, Rukario?" His long finger drew an imaginary line in the air, then another, connecting the bright dots on the sky's canvas. Lucario watched with interest, his red eyes taking in every detail, his mind forming the image his Master drew. It was a human, standing tall and strong, with a cloak billowing behind him in an imaginary wind._

It looks like a human, _commented Lucario._ _Aaron nodded. "Looks like me, does it not?" Lucario couldn't suppress the small smile that appeared on his face, as Aaron laughed softly._

_"Look beside it," commanded Aaron. Lucario's eyes obediently followed Aaron's fingers, sketching a new figure near to Aaron's own starry counterpart. A stroke there, a line here..._

It's a Rukario! _He didn't try to hide his surprise this time, his jaw dropping open and his ears perking up. Aaron laughed heartily, dropping his hand as Lucario completed the image in his mind. The Lucario of the sky appeared to have its snout pointing towards the man, its tail fanning out behind it in the same imaginary wind that had caught the man's cloak._

_Both of them said nothing more as they enjoyed the cooling breeze rustling about them, looking up at their celestial portrait._

_---_

The portrait was gone.

The familiar constellations he had once used to navigate were gone from sight, replaced by the random spots in this foreign sky.

Suddenly deposited in a strange new world, with so precious little.

The invisible sound of drums beating swelled in Lucario's mind, the steady rhythm of his heart heavily pumping blood through his body. Putting the precious staff down on the rooftop, he held his paws to his temples, hearing the drumming increase in intensity and speed.

Getting up, he brought his paws to his eye level, moving them in a set of well-practiced, fluid movements. For him, he felt that his training helped to keep his mind off the many problems of life, and it was no surprise that he had been training even harder since he arrived in the Smash Mansion.

Stepping forward, weaving and ducking imaginary opponents, Lucario's hindpaws traced an elaborate dance, rooftiles clacking loudly as Lucario passed over them, the tips of his paws flaring with Aura. Always making sure that the staff remained in his sight, Lucario whirled around and around, his paws moving faster and faster, the chattering of the tiles increasing in a passionate crescendo. If anyone could have seen the scene, they would have seen the blue Pokémon in the midst of a sea of noisy tiles, a seemingly-calm island in the midst of the storm.

Then, as suddenly as he started it, he stopped. About him, the tiles' noise slowly quieted down, still shaking from Lucario's effort. The Pokémon himself was panting slightly, paws drawn inwards in position. Then, Lucario slowly slumped onto the rooftop, his paw touching the comforting surface of the staff.

Finally, maybe, he would rest in some peace.

_Aaron-sama,_ Lucario thought. _Where are you now?_

Then he froze as footsteps faded into hearing, as someone approached the roof.


	6. Inward

**Hello all.**

**I ****apologise**** for the lack of quality in this chapter… I promise the quality will get much better after my break. Speaking of which, I will only be active for one more week, after which I will take a month off fanfiction writing. Offline commitments, you see – I hope you all will understand…**

**Meanwhile, many many thanks to Person, lupyne, NinjaSheik, Souldin, Shadow Blues, Dusk-N-Dawn, and Froggiecool! That's a lot of people… Many thanks to all of you!**

**Person: **Many thanks for your review! The Lucario's the same as the one in the movie, so yes, if that's what you're thinking of. Sorry I didn't put this up earlier, I had an impression I did.

**Two more fics in this arc have been thought of, planning is still underway. Obviously, these fics won't be started until after the break. I hope to finish **_**Introduction**_** before my hiatus begins, so expect the final (better written, hopefully) chapter within a week!**

**Too much emotional trauma, I feel: the next few chapters/fics will probably be more – physical – if you will.**

**Again, unfortunately, I'm not exactly feeling – or writing – my best right now, so constructive criticism will be very much appreciated, as always. Thank you!**

**h****awk**

---

Introduction – Chapter Six

"Wait, so what do I do? You can't just leave me alone like this!" "Look, you didn't listen to him, you grabbed his staff, you deal with it. I suggest caution. And no more touching his staff, or even the crystal." Mei Ling's voice sounded concerned over the codec, although Snake could have sworn she was slightly amused on how much trouble the spy could have gotten into in the first week alone. He groaned.

"Why would it get so agitated over a simple staff? It's not like it's some – " "Firstly, he's a 'he'," Mei Ling corrected. "Secondly, you'd never know, maybe it's some precious staff in his world? And thirdly," here she suddenly dropped her voice to a low, nearly seductive whisper, an electronic echo which softly issued from the codec.

"Cardboard."

"Alright, alright, alright! Point taken," grumbled Snake. It was no secret that the spy had an odd affinity for cardboard boxes as hiding spots. Still, he wouldn't throw someone through a couple of doors for touching his box, would he? "I still think that staff's overrated," he finally grumbled. Mei Ling sighed in resignation.

"'The cornered rat will bite the cat' – how prophetic of you," mumbled Snake. "Are you sure you're not some mind-reading Pokémon in disguise or something?" An audible _smack_ issued from the codec, a result of Mei Ling clapping her hand to her forehead. "That's just it – I particularly warned you about Rukario, and you went to agitate him anyway!"

There was a pause, before Mei Ling spoke again. "But hey, you actually remembered something I said." Snake snorted. "'Course I did."

Snake hesitated for a moment. "Where is he now, anyway? Definitely not in his room. Always kept to himself, being inward and all." A slight rattling noise came from above him, and he instinctively shivered. _Wind's picking up again,_ he thought to himself.

---

The little pattering of feet ended abruptly, the little rodent came to a halt and stared about. The roof was silent, save for the few scattered leaves on the tiles. A large gust of wind started up, whistling past and through gaps in the tiles, and some loose tiles shivered and clattered. The curious little mouse Pokémon paused and sniffed the air.

Pikachu had come up to the roof, thinking he had heard something on the roof. Looking around, he couldn't see anything, save for the rooftiles and the leaves, one of which now took flight… and flew straight into Pikachu's face.

"Chaa!" Surprised, Pikachu was sent tumbling backwards, doing a half-somersault before coming to a rest sitting down on his tail, the leaf harmlessly floating away, snatched back by the wind. Blinking twice, the yellow Pokémon shook his head and then crouched down on all fours, trying to fight against the wind.

Pikachu growled a little, the hackles on his back raising slightly, trying to overcome his fear of suddenly being lifted up and blown clean off the roof altogether. As a Pichu, he had never tried to set paw on the roof, and although he was mustering incredible will and resolve to do so now, he wished he had chosen a better time.

Pikachu put a paw on a tile, its vibrating immediately stopping. Curiously lifting the paw, the tile began to rattle once again, the startled Pikachu continuing to stare at it.

"Chu." Pikachu murmured, stepping backwards. The blue goggles around his forehead slipped a little, and instinctively his paw pushed it up again. The wind whistled around the little Pokémon, causing him to shiver in cold. The tiles started to clatter once more, their voices rising, as though to persuade Pikachu to leave. In a sense, they did – Pikachu hesitated a moment, momentarily convinced that the knocking noises were nothing more than the wind howling through the tiles.

With one last backwards look at the empty roof, Pikachu slowly hopped down the stairway, glad to be in the warmth of the Mansion.

---

Hearing the disappearing patter-patter of Pikachu's paws, Lucario uncurled himself and stood up, feeling the violent wind roughly brushing and biting at his fur, his tail forcibly bent one way by the wind's intensity. Gripping the staff, he held it such that its end rested on the roof, its other end roughly the height of Lucario's ear-tips. Stepping out from behind his cover, a small protrusion from the roof, he looked once more at the landscape below.

The night sky seemed to calm Lucario down a little, even with the absence of the stars. Lucario gazed once more at the starless sky, his eyes following where familiar stars would have been. Comforting familiar images blurred out of sight as Lucario blinked away a tear that mysteriously got into the edge of his eye. Deciding not to spend any more time stargazing at non-existant stars for the night, he turned around to pad quietly back into the Mansion.

Back outside his room, Lucario silently surveyed the damage done to his door. The fragile wood had been blown outwards, leaving the edges splintered and serrated. Raising an Aura-wrapped paw, he carefully broke the edges of the door, leaving a pile of wood and sawdust on the floor, but an empty door frame. Using his long blue tail, he swept the remnants into his now-doorless room, clearing the common corridor of stray specks or splinters.

As Lucario completed his task, he felt a sharp twinge of pain in his tail. Putting down the staff, he sat cross-legged on the floor of his room, curling his long tail around to take a look. A splinter was undoubtedly stuck into it, but finding the little troublemaker proved to be a little difficult. It was literally finding a needle in a blue, furry haystack. Lucario sighed, and started to knead his tail in his paws.

After some painful prodding and poking, Lucario isolated the splinter, but realized that there was another problem – with his padded paws, plucking it out could prove a problem. He could hold objects, but as for plucking out a splinter… Each time his paws gripped it, it would slide out of their grasp, digging deeper into the flesh. He even tried holding his tail flat on the floor and squeezing the splinter out, but to no avail. Glaring at his black paws, Lucario grunted, allowing his tail to fall back, causing a small burst of pain.

Deciding that perhaps a can of berries would take his mind off the door, the stars, his splinter, and practically everything else, he picked up the staff and made for the cafeteria. Happily enough, at this time of night, few people would be there, and so it would be ideal for him. Picking up a beat-up can of Oran berries at the counter; he proceeded to a bench in the corner, and quietly put the staff down on the table.

---

_When Lucario had first sat down to eat in the Mansion, other than the opening banquet held on the day of everyone's arrival, he discovered that his rations of Oran berries were neatly packed into odd metallic canisters. For that matter, so were many of the other Smashers', but they didn't seem to matter. For Lucario, however, who was used to only seeing Oran berries on Oran trees, a shiny tin did not seem to be a suitable replacement for food._

_Experimentally shaking the tin, Lucario discovered that the berries were in fact inside the hollow tin. Following which, he had tried to open the tin by peeling it open – a bad move, as the tin was so securely fastened he did nothing more than to lose a bit of his paws' black fur. Frustrated, he rammed the back of his paw into the can, his paw-spike transfixing the can immediately._

_From then on, Lucario learnt to carve a hole in the cans of Oran berries by literally stabbing them and rotating his paw about the can. "A built-in can-opener," admired the other Smashers. Lucario didn't really know how to respond, not knowing what a can-opener was._

_Well, so as long as no one threw cans at his spikes._

_---_

One serrated circle of tin later, Lucario had only finished a few berries when his Aura vision picked up someone coming into the cafeteria. In fact… he didn't even need to be an Aura Pokémon, the person was muttering to himself quite loudly, and his low voice reverberated along the eastern corridor to the cafeteria in the silence of the night.

"No, wait, seriously! He was really, really – oh." The man stopped short once he stepped into the cafeteria, his eyes immediately spotting the blue Pokémon in the corner. Lucario nodded once, then closed his eyes and resumed staring into the can in front of him. Snake mumbled something inaudible to the invisible person he was talking to, then slowly walked to the table Lucario was at.

Lucario closed his eyes, sighing, tail flicking slowly from side to side – his features expressionless, but wincing inwardly as he was suddenly reminded of the splinter in his tail.


	7. Open

**Hello all.**

**Thanks must go out to Shadow Blues, Souldin, Froggiecool, NinjaSheik, lupyne and Dusk-N-Dawn! Once again, a really long list, and I thank all of you once again… My thanks to also those who read and don't review, too.**

**Have adjusted my writing and planning techniques, hopefully this will result in better chapters and fics overall.**

**Unfortunately, this will also be the last update for a month or so. Commitments have come to a head, and as such, I will be going on a roughly month-long hiatus for now. I will be back, definitely, and hopefully quality will be much better. Forgive me if I reply later to your reviews, PMs or such – I will still try to reply as soon as I can.**

**Many thanks once again to my usual readers, your support is really appreciated – sounds clinchéd, but trust me I really do cherish all your support. **

**For new readers, thank you for reading – if you enjoyed this fic, or wish to read more about the characters in this setting, a list of my other fics in this series are listed at the very end of this chapter. Do check them via my profile out if you wish to.**

**[Edit: A slight edit to the end, for continuity's sake.]**

**Thank you very much, and please enjoy. Reviews and constructive criticism will be very much appreciated, as always.**

**hawk**

---

Introduction – Chapter Seven

The wind howled around the Smash Mansion, rattling the windows of Smashers' rooms. Not that it really mattered; most of the Smashers were asleep anyway, snug in their cozy world of dreams and slumber.

The voices of the wind and the rain were not strong enough to reach the cafeteria, where the only audible sound was the soft _pat, pat, pat _of Snake's footfalls as he walked. The spy visibly winced at his own unusually loud footsteps, magnified a hundredfold in the empty hall and by Lucario's sensitive hearing.

The tip of Lucario's ears twitched slightly, and Lucario allowed his eyes to travel up, watching Snake make his way to where he was. The spy seated himself on the bench opposite Lucario, resting his arms on the table, not looking at the Pokémon. Lucario had a sudden urge to lunge for the staff, but restrained his paw, instead opting to stare at a rather interesting speck on the tabletop.

At last, Snake decided he had fidgeted enough, and cleared his throat loudly. "Well," he began, Lucario looking up and fixing him with his red eyes, "I think we got off on the wrong foot, so…" Snake trailed off, seeing Lucario looking at him with a blank and slightly confused look on his features.

---

"_Well, that's what I said – go talk to him, try to get him to speak. Also, I noticed that you haven't apologized to him for molesting his cardboard box."_

"_Staff."_

"_Same difference," Mei Ling retorted half-amusedly. Quickly becoming serious once more, she added – "I've been checking up his data; surprisingly it isn't much, but this particular Pokémon seems pretty much closed up." Snake rolled his eyes. "You don't say." "So, try to get him to open up, invite him to another Brawl with others, or other Pokémon, or something." Snake snorted – Mei Ling, for all her wise words and wisecracks, obviously did not know just how Lucario had reacted – a simple invitation to a Brawl would be unlikely to solve anything…_

_One couldn't accurately describe being thrown through two doors – that was one of the things in life people had to experience for themselves, Snake mused._

"_No, wait, seriously! He was really, really –" here the spy noticed that there was actually someone in the canteen in this unearthly hour. Worse still, it was Lucario. The Pokémon had politely nodded at him in greeting, but Snake was sure he had heard practically everything. Dropping his voice, he quickly muttered the situation to Mei Ling, casually dropping his hands to his sides and trying to walk silently over to Lucario._

---

The rest of the conversation went spectacularly badly.

Snake was more accustomed to sneaking and spying; apologizing, least of all to a blue, furry… creature was exceedingly unfamiliar to him. Lucario was still as closed up as Mei Ling had predicted, probably scarred even further from incident with the staff, and looked at Snake with polite, yet unflinching eyes. Inevitably, the conversation crashed and died, going downhill right from when it started.

---

_After the introductory banquet during the first day at the Mansion, Lucario walked down the corridor near his room, newly-acquired staff in paw, when suddenly his right ear perked, twitching. Turning around, he saw a young man running towards him, calling him, his panting betraying either his inexperience with running or exhaustion from yelling his name._

"_Rukario! Hey, Rukario!" Catching up to him, he grasped his knees for a second, panting. But he quickly straightened up, and flashed the Pokémon a brilliant smile. "You're a Pokémon!" he cried. Lucario didn't respond, merely staring at him, slightly confused, with large red eyes.. "Uh, hello. I'm a Pokémon Trainer, and I thought that…" he continued on, hands gesticulating._

A… Pokémon Trainer?_ Lucario wondered. Racking his head for that term, he remembered – Satoshi, the lad looking for his Pikachu, was a Pokémon Trainer. Trained Pokémon, apparently – or friends with his Pokémon, now, that was new…_

_Lucario had never trusted anyone easily. A significant series of bad encounters with humans only served to cement that mentality, rendering him coldly polite and detatched. Aaron-sama was the only human – the only being – he trusted, and to be honest, Lucario secretly reveled in the fulfillment of his trust, the sweet taste of finally being able to have someone he could believe in – even if he was your _Master_._

_Aaron's sudden trapping of Lucario in his staff dealt a shattering blow to Lucario's idea of trust as a whole. The trust he had started to open himself to, the Aaron he had built a solid foundation and a veritable bastion of hope on, was suddenly destroyed at one fell swoop with Aaron's apparent betrayal. After all, being trapped in a crystal staff for a thousand years would pain anyone, but to be sealed by the only one he trusted –_

_That day didn't simply momentarily blind Lucario's eyes, but completely destroyed his struggling attempts to trust._

_The noble truth of Aaron's actions, when it was later revealed, went a long way in healing Lucario's scars and his view of Aaron. Satoshi, near the end of Lucario's life, further demonstrated to the Pokémon that trustworthy people indeed existed, but it was too little, and much, much too late. The sting of betrayal had already wounded the Pokémon more than all physical pain, and Lucario resolved himself to never taste its bitterness again._

"_Uh, hello?" Suddenly brought back to the Mansion, Lucario blinked, eyes refocusing on the Trainer. An awkward silence descended between them, as the Trainer scratched the back of his head and attempted to make conversation. "Nice staff." He nodded to the Pokémon Trainer, bowed, excused himself, and closed his door between them._

---

_I find it hard to trust, _Lucario eventually spoke, breaking an uncomfortable silence following the end of Snake's speech. _And you are not making it any easier. Neither is anyone else,_ he added after a moment's pause, as if to reassure the spy. Lucario got up to leave; the staff firmly held in one paw, the other picking up the now-empty tin of berries.

"You need to trust me," Snake's voice drifted to his ears. Lucario halted and turned his head, slightly interested in the rest of what this human would say next. _Why is that?_ "That splinter in your tail, for example. Paws aren't the best for that job." Out of the corner of his eye, Lucario glanced incredulously at his tail – the splinter was hardly visible, yet the spy had picked it out. Why he was staring at his tail, however, was another matter Lucario was too tired to pursue.

_That is true,_ Lucario conceded politely. Turning back, he continued to walk out of the cafeteria in measured steps, his padded paws silent against the floor tiles. Nursing a growing headache, Lucario sighed inwardly, wanting to curl up on his room floor, sleeping his troubles away. If only that was possible.

And also, his room no longer had a door.

Meanwhile Snake pressed on, inwardly pleasantly surprised and slightly amused at his ability to spout clinchéd phrases with a straight face. "You don't need to do everything by yourself, you know. You're not alone."

At this, Lucario suddenly froze. Turning around, he walked to the table, flicking the tip of his injured tail onto the bench. In one swift motion, he slammed the slightly-serrated can mouth onto his tail, the jagged edges catching onto fur but the can pressing down on the exposed part of the splinter, jamming it against the bench surface. With a forceful shake, he ripped his tail clean from under the can, almost with the air of a magician whisking the cloth from his table. His face betrayed no emotion as tufts of blue fur came off, splayed about the can, while the offending splinter was forcibly plucked out, pressed between the lip of the can and the bench.

Picking up the can, the Aura Pokémon examined it, seeing the splinter trapped in the metallic teeth of the can's rough mouth. Curling and uncurling his tail, the fur around the bleeding area moved and fell into position, covering as much of the bleeding as possible, although small dark patches still stained the fur visibly. Facing Snake now, Lucario replied in a low, quiet tone.

_I am._

Startled, Snake stood up as if to object, but after a moment used to collect his thoughts, then thought of Mei Ling's advice. "No, you're not." Extending a hand towards the Pokémon, he introduced himself, expecting the Pokémon to meet him in a handshake. "I'm Suneku."

Lucario didn't shake his hand, but bowed his head in Snake's direction. _Good night, Suneku-san._ _Now, if you will excuse me..._ With that, Lucario quickly turned and walked the few steps out of the cafeteria, staff jingling softly in his paw, leaving the surprised spy and his introduction behind.

---

_Sir Aaron and Lucario were on a grassy knoll, which overlooked a gentle, rolling field. It was probably one of Aaron's walks outside the castle, a means of self-relaxation, he claimed. Lucario was at his Master's heels, scanning the surroundings for hostile Auras, then falling into step with Aaron as they slowly made their way across the grass._

"_You know, Rukario," Aaron began, a twinkle in his eye. Lucario looked up into his Master's face while continuing to walk forward, his head tilted slightly to the side, silently asking Aaron to continue. "I've been thinking, and –"_

_Without warning, Aaron winked out of existence. Lucario halted immediately, looking around bewildered. Searching the area for Auras yielded no result, neither did calling out his name in his telepathic yells. Frustrated and confused, Lucairo spun on the spot, unsure of which way to go, which course of action to take –_

_Suddenly a shadow fell across his field of vision. His instincts taking over, he looked up, shielding his face with a paw. He saw the legendary Ho-Oh's talons open wide, glistening oddly bright in the dim light, fast approaching him as the bird glided down for the kill. Lucario quickly fell, diving to the side, attempting to roll out of the way of the legendary's line of attack before –_

_---_

Lucario rolled off his bed – or more accurately, the small mattress lying in the middle of his room – half-crushing his tail in the process. Opening his eyes, he found out that the single roll had nearly planted his muzzle into the wall – which would definitely hurt more. Wincing, he glanced out of the small window set into the wall, watching as the first golden rays of dawn arc across the horizon.

_I'm late,_ he groaned.

After quickly completing his hour and a half of training, Lucario padded silently along the corridors, heading for the Smash Mansion Cafeteria. On the way, he saw someone out of the corner of his eye, lazily throwing a Pokéball into the air and catching it with a hand. Catching sight of Lucario, the Trainer snatched the Pokéball out of the air, stuffing it into his pockets.

Ignoring him, Lucario proceeded on to the Cafeteria. Mentally slapping himself again, he realized that the cafeteria would be practically full at this point of time, a direct result of him not waking up early enough, as well as his now-fully-fledged headache. Putting a forepaw on the canteen door, he paused a moment to knead his forehead with the other paw, then pushed the door open a crack, just enough for him to slip in.

After he entered, a hand quickly caught the slowly-swinging door, holding it ajar. Nodding to the Squirtle following him, he entered the room, the Pokémon following suit, the door moaning and quickly closing, clicking shut.

**End**

**Introduction**

**---**

Days of Our Lives Arc

**Introduction**  
_Claustrophobia  
Checkmate  
Days of Our Lives  
Remembrance  
Reflection_


End file.
